Alyssa Healy has delivered brilliant consecutive hundreds to guide her squad into the last four of the World Cup, motivating them to a commanding comprehensive trouncing over their opponents.
Healy finished not out on 113 runs, arriving just four days after her equally brilliant 142 that defeated the Indian team at the identical Vizag stadium. This time, she combined in an undefeated 200-run opening partnership with Phoebe Litchfield (84no) to dash to their goal of 199 in just 24.5 overs.
“I thought I was a not at my best with the gloves, and probably a bit as captain as well tonight, but we’ll take the win and move on,” Healy remarked.
Interestingly, the supreme expertise of the day's run-chase as the duo put on 202 runs came after perhaps Australia’s poorest display in the field under Healy’s stewardship, with the captain criticizing herself in especial for spilling two of the half-dozen catches that were missed.
“I was a little bit disappointed with my glovework, and I needed to compensate with the batting, and fortunately got the job done,” she added.
Since data was first taken on fielding performance statistics in 2013, the half-dozen missed catches represented Australia’s poorest fielding display at a World Cup tournament.
“Perhaps it’s just that time of the tournament – we’ve been here a little while, and it’s an issue we’ll reflect on,” Healy commented.
It helped Bangladesh to eke out 198 for 9 after they had opted to bat, their highest score in an ODI against the Aussies, with a key batter scoring the maiden fifty ever for the Bangladeshi team against the world champions.
But Alana King spellbinding unbroken ten-over spell, in which she claimed 2-18 with four maiden overs, was crucial to making sure Australia’s chase wasn’t too challenging.
Healy Pleased with Victory that Confirms Semi-Final Spot
The Australian skipper was delighted to learn that the triumph, which places her unbeaten side at the top of the standings on nine points after four wins and a wash-out, secures them a berth in the semi-finals. “That's great news,” she said.
The experienced skipper sped to her hundred off just 73 balls, the quickest century of the tournament, and finished with 20 boundaries off the 77 balls she confronted as she pulled away from Litchfield in the latter stages in the knock after they had gone almost shot for shot towards their fifties.
Litchfield Shines with Maiden World Cup Half-Century
Left-hander Phoebe Litchfield struck 12 boundaries and a six, reaching to her first World Cup fifty off 46 balls shortly after Healy got there off 43 balls. They went on to achieve the third-best stand by any Australian pair at a Women’s World Cup.
Earlier, during the sluggish fielding display, the captain spilled the easiest of edges off Darcie Brown and also was unable to grasp a difficult lofted one off Annabel Sutherland. Annoyingly, she also did take a clear chance off Brown but didn’t have it reviewed when the umpire turned down their shout.
The reinstated Darcie Brown bowled the quickest deliveries at the tournament so far but was still the Aussies’ most expensive bowling option, conceding 0-52 off her nine overs.
Spinners Excel as Alana King Stars
In contrast, the slow bowlers thrived, led by King, whose performance could have been more successful if Beth Mooney hadn’t dropped one in the slips.
Fellow spin bowlers Georgia Wareham (2-22 off seven overs) and Ash Gardner (2-48 off nine) both chipped in, while Sutherland strengthened her standing as the competition's top wicket-taker with her two for 41, bringing her tally to 13.
Rubya Haider’s 44 and another's unbeaten 66 off 80 deliveries took the team to their highest-ever total against the Aussies, but the target was rendered easy meat by a side who had chased down 330 runs against India four days before.
“It’s always nice when you’ve got the ‘Q’ next to your name in a global tournament,” remarked player-of-the-match Alana King. “Certainly it doesn’t stop here. We look forward to going back to Indore to take on England and South Africa.”
